[darkhelmet4444]

Hello

I am in the process of setting up my home entertainment system, i have a 50" samsung plasma tv 3 years old, a ps3 mark 1, Sky HD (brand new) and i am looking to buy a surround sound system (looking for suggestions on systems but not crazy price and would like to keep it samsung if possible)

My tv will be getting mounted on the wall so i have ran cables to the back of the tv in behind the wall. I have basically bought every cable that there is a hole for in the back of the tv, so i have every option. all 3m long.

The HD picture i think is pretty simple as a HDMI cable must be used for this?
My issue is how to get the best out of the surround sound system that i will buy and what features/(inputs/outputs) i will need on it.

I would hope that the ps3 and sky HD box could be played through the surround sound at the highest quality possible hence why i have installed all the cables.

My tv has a multitude of connections including a component video/audio and an optical out.

Any help and suggestions on how to connect and what to use would be great.

Cheers Thomas

[StevieBuck]

Both Sky+HD and the PS3 are fitted with optical outputs, so you'd need a sound system with at least one optical input to get 5.1 audio from these devices.

The PS3 can also output high definition audio over it's HDMI connection, which is better than you can get with optical. However, I'm pretty sure only high end standalone systems have HDMI inputs which accept audio. At that prices, you'd be better looking at separates (standalone home cinema receiver and speaker packs).

How much roughly do you have to spend?

[darkhelmet4444]

Thanks for the help, i am looking to spend up to around 500 but would be flexible to get the best out of my system.
Does that mean you could feed both units to the tv and take your sound out from that to your surround system ? what are the component cables used from thought i read somewhere about using them for attaching high end equipment but dont know myself

Cheers Thomas

[darkhelmet4444]

was thinking of something like this as it gets good reviews just not sure if it would have the required connections.

Samsung HT-TZ325R

DVD Home Theatre System HT-TZ325 - Home Cinema Systems - Home Cinema | SAMSUNG

[StevieBuck]

Although the PS3 outputs 5.1 audio over HDMI, most TVs do not pass through the 5.1 signal to its optical connection. If your TV is the same then all you'll get is stereo audio connecting it this way. Sky+HD doesn't even output 5.1 audio over HDMI, so even if your TV did passthrough 5.1 audio it wouldn't work for Sky.

What you need is a direct connection from the PS3 & Sky+HD box into your sound system. According to the manual for the Samsung HT-TZ325R, it does have a digital optical input - but only one. You could use this system in conjunction with an optical switch though to get it to work without having to switch cables all the time:

TOSLink Switch - Digital Audio Optical Switch Only £7.82 at TVCables

That system is well within your budget, so you could look for a more expensive one with 2 optical inputs.

[darkhelmet4444]

Thanks again, do you recommend any systems that you know to be good ?

[StevieBuck]

To be honest, no - I haven't followed the all-in-one market closely for a while.

If you haven't done so already, check out the section of the forums dedicated to all-in-one systems. You may find some useful information there:

All-in-one Systems - AVForums.com